Industrial Sites in Lower Mainland Have Oversupply of Parking: Study

Bunt & Associates Engineering Ltd. in partnership with NAIOP Vancouver recently conducted an extensive region-wide industrial parking study.

Between June and October 2022, a total of 62 industrial sites in Metro Vancouver & Fraser Valley were surveyed to assess parking supply, peak parking demand and usage patterns.

The surveyed sites include a mix of strata and leased industrial properties of different sizes and span multiple municipalities across the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley regions. This includes Vancouver, Surrey, Pitt Meadows, North Vancouver, New Westminster, Langley, Burnaby,
Coquitlam, Langley Township, Richmond, Port Coquitlam, Abbotsford, Delta, Maple Ridge and Chilliwack.

The study revealed that the scarcity of industrial land in Metro Vancouver has reached a critical level. The current vacancy rate in Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley stands at 0.6 per cent.

It also noted that outdated City parking bylaws in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley frequently impose additional limitations on the development potential of industrial sites.

Data was also collected for observed parking supply rates, observed peak parking demand rates, and
observed peak utilization. According to the data, the average peak parking utilization was the highest (53 per cent) for Small Unit Multi-User Strata sites and lowest (41 per cent) for Small Unit Multi-Tenant Lease sites.

According to the study, Single User Lease sites made up the most sites and had the lowest average peak parking demand rate and the lowest average observed parking supply rate.

The study noted that sites in municipalities closer to the Metro Core tend to have higher parking utilization on average. The highest parking utilization was at Vancouver sites, with an average utilization of 70 per cent.

North Vancouver followed closely, according to the study, with a utilization of 63 per cent. The lowest parking utilization was at Richmond sites, with an average utilization of 32 per cent. Chilliwack followed closely with a utilization of 34 per cent.

Out of the 62 industrial sites surveyed in the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley regions, it was found that there is an excess of 50 per cent parking availability, according to the study.